🎪 Shoestring Circus Returns to Olympia With an All-New Show

Olympia's homegrown circus tradition is back.

Shoestring Circus returns to Olympia from June 19 to 28, 2026 with its brand-new 2026 production, Dreamland, ten days of acrobatics, aerial work, contortion, and live music under a real big-top tent.

🎪 What's New This Year

Shoestring's 2026 show, Dreamland, is a complete reset of last year's program. The promise: "stunning acts, dramatic visuals, vibrant characters, and plenty of unexpected surprises."

This year's headline performers:

• Ilse Baryshnikov — an award-winning contortionist

• Nick Ng — a dynamic rope artist whose performance resume includes Cirque du Soleil

• Caroline Kane — a Broadway dancer and singer

It's the kind of small-but-serious circus where you can hear the music live, see the rigging from your seat, and watch a Broadway-trained performer eight feet away from you.

📅 Showtimes

Two weekends, with mid-week matinees:

• Fri June 19 — 7pm

• Sat June 20 — 4pm and 7pm

• Sun June 21 — 3pm and 6pm

• Wed June 24 — 4pm and 7pm

• Thu June 25 — 4pm and 7pm

• Fri June 26 — 4pm and 7pm

• Sat June 27 — 1pm and 5pm

• Sun June 28 — 1pm

🎟 Tickets

• Kids (ages 3–12): start at $17

• Adults (13+): $35

• Front row: $55

Tickets are available only at shoestringcircus.com.

📍 Venue

Under the Big Top Tent
650 Marine Dr, Olympia, WA

📈 Why It Matters

There's no shortage of family entertainment in the South Sound, but Shoestring is different. It's local. It builds the tent in a parking lot in Olympia. You're not watching a touring spectacle, you're watching neighbors and visiting artists turn a literal vacant lot into a real, full-blooded circus for ten days. It's the kind of summer ritual that becomes a memory parents recreate with their own kids decades later.

📬 I'm Aaron Thomas, a local realtor sharing stories that connect us to the places we call home. Every Friday, we publish the South Sound Report, keeping you informed about what's happening in Tacoma, Olympia, DuPont, Puyallup, Lakewood, and the communities in between.

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